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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28674003">Returning to the Ancestral Forest</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Speckywee/pseuds/Speckywee'>Speckywee</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:36:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,353</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28674003</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Speckywee/pseuds/Speckywee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello! Um, I haven't written fanfiction in a good while so I hope you can find some enjoyment out of it. I'm mostly posting this for my own entertainment. So um, enjoy?</p>
    </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin)/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Blue Skies and Gentle Giants</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello! Um, I haven't written fanfiction in a good while so I hope you can find some enjoyment out of it. I'm mostly posting this for my own entertainment. So um, enjoy?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lorelei’s face was warm. She kept her eyes closed, trying to fight off consciousness and responsibilities for a little while longer. However, an uncomfortable thought tickled her at the edge of her mind – the sun must be shining down on her face directly for this degree of warmth as her entire face was flushed with the farthest edges of her skin itchy in what would be the beginning of a sunburn.</p>
<p>Her eyes fluttered open; her vision filled with a brilliant blue sky. ‘Outside…? Why am I outside?’ She thought to herself as she slowly sat up, body groaning in protest as she had been laying in an awkward position for too long. She was sat in the middle of a large field of grass and wildflowers. In the distance was what looked to be a forest of towering trees but sat directly in front of her was giant, naked human sleeping in the sun. Lorelei froze, the human must have been 20 times her size or larger as its’ height was difficult to measure while it was laying down. Its’ face looked vaguely masculine but its body was like a doll – smooth and without any kind of secondary sex characteristics. She raised a brown and tilted her head, ‘Does… does it even have bits?’</p>
<p>“Hello?” She said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, “Are you a giant by any chance?” She asked. She recalled that people of monstrous size were called giants…. But she could not remember where she had heard that from. The giant inhaled deeply but remained still, continuing to sleep. Lorelei rose to her feet, brushing the dirt from her as she realised her circumstances.</p>
<p>Lorelei could not remember.</p>
<p>She could remember her first name and that she should have a second but could not recall it. When she tried to muster the memories of how she came to be in this field her mind emptied and a dull ache started behind her right eye. Lorelei should probably panic – the fact that she was alone in the middle of the wilderness in front of a sleeping giant should be enough to panic her, but the fact that she had no memories of a life otherwise meant that the current circumstance were assumed to be normal. ‘A land of sleeping giants didn’t seem so bad.’ She thought to herself as she checked her person. Lorelei was wearing a white button up shirt, black trousers, and leather boots. Her pockets were empty except for a silver change and a backpack sat at her feet in the grass. She knelt and opened it, checking its contents.</p>
<p>The bag had a thick blanket roll attached at the bottom. Inside was dried meat, cheese, and numerous packets of what looked like… cracker bars? She took a bite of one and it was the most average thing she had ever tasted, ‘Or… the only thing?’ Lorelei laughed to herself, for an amnesiac she seemed to have some pretty strong opinions. She pulled out a large flask and drank from it – water. Lorelei hadn’t realised how thirsty she was until the water hit her tongue. She would have finished the bottle if not for the fact it was the only bottle in the bag. The rest of the bag was filled with survival essentials: a knife, fire starters, a roll of rope, a compass, extra clothes, etc. The only object of interest was a small, hand sized notebook.</p>
<p>Scribbled inside was:</p>
<p>
  <em>“Destroy this note after you read it: </em>
</p>
<p>M<em>ankind can be found to the North. </em></p>
<p>
  <em>Do not let yourself be found by the humans outside the walls as you will be imprisoned, tortured, and dissected. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Don’t bother the titans.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Survive.“</em>
</p>
<p>‘How vague and unhelpful…’ Lorelei thought to herself, but at least she knew a couple things now. She would head North in the direction of the giant forest, avoiding ‘bothering’ the sleeping titan that laid in front of her, and she would hide from any humans that she found as long as she outside the ‘walls’. She ripped the page out of the journal and began her walk towards ‘humanity’.</p>
<p>Lorelei stopped at nightfall, falling to her knees at the base of gigantic tree. The base itself was probably as thick as the titan she saw earlier was tall. Due to its gigantic size the roots created small caves at their meetings. Lorelei curled up in one of them, leaning her back into the tree and sighing. She had walked throughout the entire day and had only seen a couple titans. Every time from a distance and every time both parties ignored each other. She wondered why she had been left directions not to bother them when they were so distance and peaceful, though perhaps that was exactly why she was to leave them alone. Let them enjoy their day in the sun without disturbance.</p>
<p>Lorelei opened a packet of the cracker brick and began to eat. She thought about eating two or three of them, but given the unknown distance to ‘humanity’ thought better of it. ‘Not being full is better than starving… probably.’ Lorelei thought to herself, putting the wrapper away and drinking a mouthful of water. She unrolled the blanket and wrapped it around herself, quickly warming herself. As her body became warm her eyes became heavy and soon she succumbed to sleep.</p>
<p>
  <em>‘So what will you do?’ Asked a voice. It was androgynous and comforting as the dream focused on a pair of tanned hands, folding in a skirt clad lap. The nails had been painted with a type of clear gloss so that they shined when the owner moved them. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>‘Rory?’ The voice asked again. A feminine face came into focus with a mane of dark brown curls framing her round face. Her lips were full and rounded in a permanent pout and her short, wide nose sat prettily on her face. As the dream focused on her eyes things began to flicker – her eyes were too green, like the tree tops Lorelei had walked under the day. Walking? Where had she- </em>
</p>
<p>Lorelei gasped as she sat upright, her heart pounding as she looked around her. The sun fell through the gaps in the roots around her like golden fabric, flowing and dancing when the wind whispered. Her dream was already slipping away as she began to pack up her things to get ready to make her way to the walls. Lorelei moved to stand up only to be pulled back down to her knees by her hair. The edges of her hair had somehow stuck or fused themselves to the very roots themselves and refuse to come loose. Lorelei pulled her knife out from the bag and cut her hair. Somehow the act of cutting her thick, brown curls free from the tree made her stomach turn and her breath shaky. However, it was over soon enough as she walked away from the tree and began her journey.</p>
<p>The weather was good as the sun shined and the bright blue sky waited for her when she finally exited the forest of giants. She could see a massive wall in the distance with plumes of smoke decorating the sky above the tower. There were no titans to be seen and Lorelei assumed that they probably had very little interest in humans and their noise since all the times she had seen them they had ignored her. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Greeting Humanity</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> The entrance to the city was destroyed. Where, what Lorelei assumed, had been a gate now stood a gaping hole. The edges of the gate were positioned inwards and Lorelei couldn’t help but think how much the hole looked like it had been bashed in.</p>
<p>“Kicked in perhaps?” She mumbled to herself as she walked through the entrance. The wall was made of a questionable material with no seams or separations, but Lorelei could see where the pressure of the impact forced the exterior of the wall in on itself. “Could a titan have done this?” She murmured to herself, eyes fixed on the dark ceiling above her as she walked. “Unless it was a…” She trailed off, as quickly as the memory had come it had vanished. Lorelei’s eye twitched with the return of the dull ache behind her right eye. She could hear a low hum but she could not place what direction it was coming from.</p>
<p>The city itself was not in any better of a state than the gate. Boulders were placed sporadically – no doubt from the destruction of the gate. A stench permeated the air causing Lorelei to gag before covering her mouth and nose with both hands. Her stomach churned and her heart began to race as her body began to fill with a feeling she couldn’t quite describe, like noxious gunk was filling her insides. “What could possibly make such a disgusting smell….” As soon as those words escaped her lips she was met with her answer.</p>
<p>
  <em>Humans. </em>
</p>
<p>One body was sprawled across a step of stairs leading up to a second floor house – completely decapitated. The body was bloated and foul-smelling liquids leaked from its neck onto the ground. Insects swarmed through the air in heavy droves and Lorelei stared down at the road under her feet. She wouldn’t, no, she couldn’t deal with the sights in front of her if she wanted to remain sane and conscious. She focused on the ground beneath her feet as she walked, using her peripherals to direct her away from bodies and dismembered limbs. ‘What could have possibly done this?’ She thought once again. Her thoughts fluttered to the titans she had seen on her travels but dismissed it. While they definitely had the physical ability to cause so much damage their temperament leaned more towards pacifism… Unless.</p>
<p>Unless the people behind the walls had done something to incur their wrath. Lorelei shivered at the thought, looking behind her at the wall. The entrance she had come from was completely out of sight. ‘Maybe I’d be better off by myself…’ She thought to herself, her foot kicked an object and she felt her stomach lurk. ‘Perhaps I’ll pay attention to where I’m walking…’ She countered, returning her focus to the ground above her. Casualties seemed to grow as she walked closer and closer to the inner wall.</p>
<p>“C’mon, Lorelei. We need to think.” She said aloud, “Well… I’m running low on water. I’ll probably need more food depending on how long the journey is from here to the centre… If there is a centre anymore.” She began, “A map. Food, water, a map. Some kind of transportation would be very helpful but seeing that there are no….” Once again Lorelei spoke as if she remembered only for the memory to be swept away before she could say it. She sighed aloud as finally looked up. Lorelei was standing in the middle of what was probably a town square. Storefronts varied in strength with some caved in on themselves. The signs that were in one piece were in another language that she could not read. Lorelei popped her head through an open door and saw mens’ suits on display. An assortment of fabric rolls were hung on the back wall. A dark green one was chosen as it was the most breathable by Lorelei and she cut a long length from it to tie around her nose and mouth. Her time amongst these bodies couldn’t be good for her health and a barrier between the outside air and her insides seemed like a good idea.</p>
<p>From there Lorelei darted in and out of shops and houses alike, finding that many buildings were untouched – their occupants unable to come back for resources. Whatever happened had happened quickly, giving the people of this town only the option of escaping as quickly as they could. With the state of the bodies, it had to have happened within the last day or two as well… Lorelei rush to clear the shelfs of a general store she had entered, eyes avoiding the body in the corner and the splash of dark brown on the wall behind it. Whatever had come to this city was so horrifying that the owner of this store would rather kill himself than be subjected to… And Lorelei didn’t blame him. She had seen enough to fill her nightmares for the rest of her life.</p>
<p>Her backpack was soon full of -what she believed to be – food and a couple bottles of water, and she began her was through the rest of the city as quickly as she could as she was more than ready to leave the dead behind her. However, the inner gate was as broken as the first and many more bodies were scattered around – these ones in one pieces and dead from the impact. She gritted her teeth, tying the clothe around her face a little tighter. How many more days would she be walking through this land of the dead? Whoever had written the little note in her journal must have assumed that this civilisation would be… alive and thriving. Lorelei laughed bitterly, whoever had led her to this place couldn’t have known what had had happened, and if they did…. They were not someone Lorelei wanted to meet.</p>
<p>And so she walked.</p>
<p>Lorelei continued walking, day after day, following a river that went North. Small mountain villages were scattered and far between and so food came and went, but Lorelei found that as long as she drank water she could keep moving. She had lost count of the days by the time she had finally caught sight of another wall. This one, however, was fully intact and titans of various sizes were clawing at the wall, unsuccessfully trying to… climb up? Grab the people atop the wall? She couldn’t tell, but she knew better than to go towards the titans after what she had seen after her journey. She was a fair distance away but she could still manage to see the outline of the people on the wall. Lorelei waved her arms about her head in an attempt to grab their attention. She wouldn’t chance getting closer, however, within the next hour a wooden platform was lowered on the southernmost corners of the city walls. Lorelei made her way to the platform and only once she arrived at the top did she finally feel the full extent of the physical exhaustion she had been put through, falling to her knees. All she wanted was to lay down in that grassy field she had woken up in and never get back up ever again. Her mind must have been in a state of shock since waking as it was only now that tears began to fall fast and hot down her cheeks.</p>
<p>“My god, a lone survivor.” A male voice said in shock. “You must’ve had the luck of the gods on your side to make it all the way to here.” Fabric was wrapped around her and she was guided to her feet to a nearby box to sit on. “Tell me, did you pass through a town called Dorst? Were there any other survivors?”</p>
<p>Lorelei looked up at the mad in front of her. He was a mad of about forty with salt and pepper hair. His eyes were wide with pain as he gritted her teeth. Lorelei shook her head, looking down at her hands that sat in her lap. They were paler than usual, and she couldn’t stop them from shaking. “There was no one outside the wall.” She said quietly, and Lorelei was surprised by how weak it sounded. The man in front of her fell to knees, covering his face as he focused on steadying his breathing.</p>
<p>He breathed deeply once more before speaking, “You probably don’t want to think about what you saw… I just… My entire family lived in Dorst, - a small town outside of Shiganshina – and there’s been no sign or word from any of them.” Others joined the man, asking Lorelei of town names she had never heard before. She continued to stare down at her hands, shaking her head as the tears continued. ‘They must think that if I managed then their family members had a chance….’ She thought to herself.</p>
<p>“What happened? The gate… I saw the entrance was smashed and people were killed, but what did it?” She asked, looking up with wide eyes at the group around her. They were an assortment of men and women wearing the same uniform consisting of brown jackets and white trousers. Their hips were adorned with metal boxes that she couldn’t place.</p>
<p>“W-what happened? Wall Maria was breached, and the titans ate everyone in their path!” A man yelled, “Are you simple?!”</p>
<p>Lorelei flinched, “The titans… ate people?” She whispered, and suddenly the memories of the bodies made more sense. Heads were <em>bitten off </em>and body parts were thrown about the place from the force of the rest of the body being <em>eaten</em>. Her breath hiked and her body began to shake violently. She had woken up in front of one. She had tried <em>speaking to it </em>and yet none of the titans had even so much as looked in her direction? Why had she been spared when village after village had been eaten.</p>
<p>            “She was just lucky.” A voice came, “I’ll take her to where the rest of the refugees are.” And with that Lorelei was being rushed away from the group by a woman. Her hair was cut to just below her chin and she had glasses that turned into a type of headband. Lorelei and the woman were put on another wooden platform that was lowered to the base of the wall. The streets seemed too full with people sitting against buildings in the streets.</p>
<p>            “You probably had more options for food outside the walls so I can’t promise you anything at this point. However, a roof over your head without the knowledge of titans surrounding you should be more than enough.” She said flatly as she led Lorelei through the city. “However, those didn’t seem to impact you much….” She said quietly to herself.</p>
<p>            Lorelei stumbled quickly behind her, not used to the pace. While many questions were gnawing at her she chose to remain quiet. She didn’t know what was common knowledge here and she didn’t think her lack of memory would do her much good. The two of them walked in silence before arriving at a large square filled with people lining up.</p>
<p>            “Line up for rations and they may be able to get you something to eat…” She said, finally looking at Lorelei. Lorelei was about the same height as the woman if not a little taller, but the woman’s stony gaze didn’t seem affected by that. “Tell me, how did you manage to survive outside Wall Rose?”</p>
<p>            Lorelei looked at the lines behind the woman and licked her dry lips, “Just lucky… I think.” The woman raised her brow, “You think?”</p>
<p>            “I didn’t come across many and the ones I did ignored me for the most part…” She said in a hushed voice, “They could have been distracted by… other things.” Lorelei said, she felt like she was lying, because in some way she was. She had woken up in front of one and tried to speak to it, but it ignored her entirely. The words ‘dissection’ and ‘torture’ came to mind and influenced her actions but she still found it odd that so many had been eaten and she hadn’t even seen one up close and awake.</p>
<p>            “I suppose the fall of Wall Maria could have been enough for most to ignore you. I suppose Hannes was right to call you lucky.” The woman said before performing some type of salute and leaving Lorelei in the square. Lorelei stood in line and managed to get a loaf of bread, and though it was to last her two days or so she ate it all before falling asleep in the warehouse with the rest of the refugees.</p>
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